Somnopolis

Very sad if true.

Man that didn’t disappoint. Y’see I have no reason to go through this life embittered and angry. Honestly, if I were to see a mad bastard in the street ranting about the end of the world – I would probably find it amusing. Maybe I’d feel sorry for him – but that initial feeling would remain.

That’s what tonight was like.

This was an event hosted by the Phil (or ‘Philosophical Society’, which caused O’Reilly to continually refer to philosophy, while not actually describing any one philosophy).

When the man himself appeared no public questions were allowed. All had to be submitted in advance of ‘question time’. He gave a short speech about philosophy, which described America’s role in the world. This amounted to describing criticism from European media as being the result of jealousy and leftism. Apparently rock stars and film celebrities are traveling the world infecting us innocents with contrary views. This was all in addendum to a survey O’Reilly mentioned, were German citizens voted America to be a greater threat to world peace than Iran.

“I’m a fact based guy”

America was a noble nation. It had done good things. ‘That guy with a little moustache was a threat!’ There was a reason why Mexicans were crossing the border and settling in Florida (does he mean Cubans?). Isn’t there a reason why ‘indians aren’t crossing the Himalayas into China?’ O’Reilly’s own ancestors were starving immigrants from County Cavan he mentioned, who had fallen upon bad times because of the British and so got in a boat to flee to America. This speech finally ended with a joke comparing himself to Bono (who has also spoken to the Phil) avoiding taxes.

Then came ‘question time’. Questions which were submitted in advance and vetted. No interruption was allowed. And the committee applauded everything he said without question (whereas the audience laughed in disbelief or booed).

This did bring up some interesting quotes though

- “The right has nothing interesting to say anymore” (Fox is apparently reporting stories about the left, as they are ‘interesting and contentious’)

- Were the US to be attacked again “[it would] turn sharply to the right”

- “[the] United States is a wounded tiger”

- the plan behind invading Iraq was to “pen in Iran, the real villain”

- If America does not succeed in Iraq, it will be like Northern Ireland. To which a voice in the back shouted out ‘Bollocks!’

- “medicinal marijuana leads to kids dealing drugs” to cars, although I didn’t understand what he meant by that

- “you want to be gay, be gay have a good time”

- “We’re trying to deal with China in a fair and balanced way”

- “History won’t judge Bush kindly”

- “Al Queda is significantly downgraded across the world” – during a week in which responsibility was claimed for an attack in Algeria and on the day of a bombing in the Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone

- Regarding interviewing Iraqis “Oh what do they know, it’s like talking to someone in Cleveland!”

- on environmentalism and conservatives “We like that dirty air – GOD WANTS US TO HAVE DIRTY AIR” – impersonating a conservative

- re: peace in Northern Ireland “people can get together and play cricket or whatever they do”

- Maria Shriver runs California

- compared the success of the EU to being gay, quoting his previous statement: “you want to be gay, be gay have a good time”

Now before all of this O’Reilly criticised politicians for refusing to appear on the O’Reilly Factor because they were afraid of being questioned. He criticised the Bush Administration for avoiding questions – Blair too – and yet he did not answer one question this evening properly, he would frequently ramble off the point and HE CHOSE THE FRIGGING QUESTIONS HIMSELF!

Anyway, an instructive evening. And for all of the above I’m glad I attended. His opinions on Northern Ireland, from a man who insisted he dealt only in facts and had visited 70 countries – were incredibly ignorant. Apparently the current resolution is entirely due to the Women’s peace movement (which apparently was Northern Irish women refusing to have sex until the men stopped killing one another) and George Mitchell. Hmmm…no, that’s incorrect.

My only regret is that when he described the UN as an ineffectual institution because they had ‘allowed’, Milosevic to die, it took so long to convict, I didn’t have the heart to shout out ‘Ken Lay!’

I saw a man tonight who is deeply deluded, ignorant and rather unable to speak publicly. Unable to engage in debate. Unable to explain himself without rambling for an interminable period. Unfortunate for someone whose career depends on ‘informing the public of the issues of the day’.

This week the final issue of Mark Millar’s Civil War was published. A Marvel crossover, the book centred on a conflict arising over whether superhero identities should remain secret, between ‘Pro-Registration forces’ led by Tony Stark/Iron Man and ‘Anti-Registration’, led by Captain America.

See here for the best possible summary:

It was a comic book story, were men in tights beat the stuffing out of one another. But there is some serious teeth gnashing going on over this series.

Mark Millar has a reputation for being critical of the Bush administration. So instantly folk assumed that Stark was a parody of George Bush, with Reed Richards and Hank Pym as his neo-con supporters. See the Superhero Registration Act has been compared to the Patriot Act, with all the attendant loss of privacy and security that implies. Then there was the invention of ‘42′. A prison in another dimension where heroes who merely refused to sign up were locked away….without trial or representation. Sound familiar? A superhero Guantanamo was certainly a new one on fans and this was where things got interesting.

Fanboys are notoriously unable to express themselves. Everything is excessive, you have ‘haters’, and ’shippers’, with no middle-ground between them. They are also by and large fantasists. I read a lot of message boards and what’s worrying is the average age of most of these fans seems to be somewhere in the mid-twenties to thirties. As a result fanboys are also remarkable insulated politically. If politics does ever arise in a conversation, it usually turns into a flamewar of name-calling. “Republican fascist”, “Liberal douche” etc.

Yet with Civil War, once the battle lines were drawn, all of a sudden these inarticulate fanboys were having ongoing debates about the merits of Registration, the ethics of 42, whether or not Reed Richards et al were being written out of character or were actually being prudent. Was Captain America a terrorist?

Unable to discuss the real world, these fictional characters were suddenly lended a weight they might not warrant. Captain America is a soldier and a patriot, so choosing him to lead up the Anti-Registration movement got a lot of attention. It was a return to his stories under Steve Englehart in the 70’s, when the character resigned in disgust over Watergate. Millar’s clever little idea was to bring ‘real world politics’, home to roost in Marvel.

But that ending. Well it has upset a lot of people.

In fairness I would say – this is a comic book. It had nice art. The dialogue was a bit hokey and men punching each other in sequential panels is not something I can take that seriously. Still the conclusion was downbeat and ironic. The ‘utopia’, presented seems utterly doomed by short-sightedness, which is the flaw of utopias in general.

It was a comic book. It had some good moments. I only wish people engaged this much with the crap that’s going on right outside our doors.

See I was freaked out a year ago, when this girl I was seeing had her friends, her friends mind you, google me. And they found this page.

Now that I thought was pretty weird, given that any info on this page about me, which is minimal, would have been freely offered for the asking.

Also I thought it a good idea to remove my name from any online communication. I mean I have about half a dozen online id’s (and now that I’m playing CoH that number is increasing almost daily) so better to invent a new one for bebo, than continue to use my own name.

It’s a direct quote from Mr. Bush’s press conference with Blair the other day on Baker’s report. “Disappointed with the pace of success” –

I just think it’s gloriously euphemistic, a stroke of accidental genius.

So that’s my new name here

Carry on

Caught a glimpse of this headline in passing this morning…

“GEORGE BUSH: ‘GOD TOLD ME TO END THE TYRANNY IN IRAQ’

In the words of Mr. Bill Hicks “It’s real basic irony, but I like it!”

http://www.konformist.com/2001/hicks.htm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1586978,00.html

I’m reading ‘Woman On the Edge of Time’. Have to say, I love this book. One of the most abrupt and upsetting beginnings to a novel I’ve read since…..well when I was eight years old and read Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson.’That scene’, which is endlessly discussed online on various blogs (the main character is transported to a fantasy world where his leprosy is miraculously cured and promptly rapes a young woman) came to mind again, but then the author successfully transports the reader into a sense of hope for the future. Anyway, read the below:

http://www.futures.hawaii.edu/j2/rosenthal.html

Came across this on a message board…

“Satan could not be reached for comment, but retail outlets in Hell have noticed a sharp increase in sales of snowshoes and parkas.”

Gotta love it.